10 Guns, Bombs, and Weapons You Can Build at the Airport

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10 Guns, Bombs, and Weapons You Can Build at the Airport

Independent security researcher Evan Booth wondered if it was possible for terrorists to craft deadly weapons using only items for sale at the duty free shops and newsstands beyond the TSA checkpoints. The short answer? Yes. Photo: Evan Booth

Over the past nine months, Booth has shared four reports detailing his destructive designs with the TSA prior to posting the videos online, but has received little feedback from the agency regarding fixes to the gaping holes in security. Photo: Evan Booth

"Maybe my expectations are too high, but I don't think it should be that easy to build an explosive device out of items purchased in an airport," says Booth. Photo: Evan Booth

This quirky quartermaster has cracked coconuts using nunchucks made from dental floss, copies of US Weekly, and souvenir magnets purchased at Hudson News. Photo: Evan Booth

Booth believes the most interesting elements come from regional gift shops, like this Statue of Liberty tchotchke from LaGuardia, which makes excellent spikes and shrapnel. Photo: Evan Booth

The Constitutionally-themed club called 'Murica looks as much like an editorial cartoon as an implement of destruction. Photo: Evan Booth

Booth's devices are refined in a terrifying process of trial and error to maximize their ability to injure passengers, breach the cockpit, or destroy the plane. Photo: Evan Booth

After watching the videos, it's all too easy to imagine a ne'er-do-well assembling these weapons in the loo at 30,000 feet. Photo: Evan Booth

A hair dryer, umbrella, and braided rope made from condoms became a makeshift dart gun. Photo: Evan Booth

Family restrooms at the airport are ideal workshops for terrorists to tinker in since they offer a private space equipped with a full size sink, power supply, and a handy workbench in the form of an infant changing table. Photo: Evan Booth

No special tools are required—all of these implements were crafted with an innocuous, TSA approved multi-tool. Photo: Evan Booth

"It feels a bit like the net effect of my work thus far has been a violent, fiery step backwards," says Booth. Photo: Evan Booth

This spike was made by melting a souvenir spoon with an ignited can or aerosols into a mold made from a Red Bull can. Photo: Evan Booth

Taken separately, none of the components are that dangerous, but when laid in series trained eyes can spot the beginnings of a bomb. Photo: Evan Booth

Amazingly, Booth has suffered almost no injuries as a result of his experimention, aside from the occasionally cutting his fingers opening RedBull cans. He has not been placed on the "No Fly List," yet. Photo: Evan Booth

In less than eight minutes, Booth was able to turn this coffee tumbler into a fragmentary grenade. Photo: Evan Booth

After enduring a particularly invasive trip through airport security, white-hat hacker Evan Booth wondered if it was possible for terrorists to craft deadly weapons using only items for sale at the duty free shops and newsstands beyond the TSA checkpoints. After fashioning a fully functional shotgun with Axe body spray, Red Bull cans, and nine volt batteries, the answer turns out to be a decisive, anus-clenching, yes.

This quirky quartermaster has cracked coconuts using nunchucks made from dental floss, copies of US Weekly, and souvenir magnets purchased at Hudson News. A hair dryer, umbrella, and braided rope made from condoms became a makeshift crossbow. And while he has yet to figure out how to weaponize a Cinnabon, his arsenal of deadly weapons and step-by-step building instructions, collectively titled Terminal Cornucopia, should strike fear in the hearts of frequent flyers.

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>He has yet to figure out how to weaponize a Cinnabon.

Booth's creations have a Mujahideen meets MacGyver vibe, but the design choices are carefully considered. The large, lithium-ion batteries in laptops are basically useless for destructive purposes, but tiny amounts of elemental lithium scraped from the inside coin cells can create huge fires and toxic gases when mixed with water. Whiskey is theoretically flammable; however, travel-sized cans of Barbasol pack more punch. His devices are refined in a terrifying process of trial and error to maximize their ability to injure passengers, breach the cockpit, or destroy the plane.

Magazines, Scotch tape, and batteries make up the bulk of Booth's materials, but he believes the most interesting elements come from regional gift shops. Geodes for sale in Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport are both heavy and sharp while Statue of Liberty tchotchkes from LaGuardia make excellent spikes and shrapnel.

Terminal Cornucopia is especially impressive, or alarming, considering Booth limited himself to items that could be purchased at stores. He ignored the readily available, and wildly dangerous, high-voltage cardiac defibrillators hanging on walls and toxic cleaning chemicals left unattended on janitor's carts, figuring removing them might draw attention. No special tools are required—all of these implements were crafted with an innocuous, TSA approved multi-tool.

Some of the designs seem complex, but after watching the videos, it's all too easy to imagine a ne'er-do-well assembling these weapons in the loo at 30,000 feet. According to Booth, family restrooms at the airport are even better workshops for terrorists to tinker in since they offer a private space equipped with a full size sink, power supply, and a handy workbench in the form of an infant changing table.

The Constitutionally themed club called 'Murica looks as much like an editorial cartoon as an implement of destruction, but Booth's most dangerous projects are also the most understated. A device called Airplane Mode turns the rotors of an RC car and a Bic lighter into a remote detonation device. Paired with a suitcase filled with travel-size aerosol cans, wooden stirring sticks from Starbucks, and toilet paper snatched from the men's room, and you have a surprisingly effective improvised explosive device.

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This suitcase bomb is especially troubling. Booth says his prototype took one and a half extinguishers to put out and wonders if three or four rolled onboard, would there be enough extinguishers on board to put the fires out? Critics often accuse Booth of arming terrorists with the means to hijack flights, but his response is more disquieting: "What if they already know all this?"

Over the last nine months, he has shared four reports detailing his destructive designs with the TSA prior to posting the videos online. They were happy to accept his info and sent a couple FBI agents to his home for a short discussion, but haven't yet provided any feedback addressing the vulnerabilities that his research has identified.

"Maybe my expectations are too high, but I don't think it should be that easy to build an explosive device out of items purchased in an airport," says Booth. "Travelers, both consumers and taxpayers, deserve to know this information."

Booth doesn't have any surefire solutions to these holes in security, but if we can't bring a bottle of Poland Springs through security, it seems like eliminating flammable aerosols and explosive elemental lithium would be a smart first step. "Finding lithium batteries for sale in the airport recently was actually pretty discouraging seeing as they weren’t available when I started this project earlier this year," he says. "It feels a bit like the net effect of my work thus far has been a violent, fiery step backwards."